WAILUKU, Maui — A $1 million settlement was awarded to the family of an O'ahu man killed three years ago from a 300-foot fall while staying at a vacation rental in Huelo.

Stephen A. Goddard, 60, of Honolulu, was found dead at the base of the cliff on the morning of Dec. 31, 2003.

He was among 20 people who gathered for a family reunion and stayed at Huelo Point Flower Farm, which is at the edge of a 300-foot ocean cliff.

Stones and foliage at the cliff edge "obscured where the drop-off would be," said James Krueger, who filed the lawsuit in Maui Circuit Court on behalf of Goddard's estate and his widow, Mitsuko Kaneko Goddard.

The lawsuit was dismissed last month after the settlement was reached.

William Guy Fisher and Douglas Keyes Self, who were named as owners of the farm in the lawsuit, could not be reached by phone for comment.

A woman answering the phone at the farm said it is under new ownership. She said she did not want to be identified.

County property tax records show the property on two acres on Maui was purchased by Paradise Holdings LLC in June 2005.

Goddard was an attorney who had been working as a yacht broker. He was last seen at 11:30 p.m. on Dec. 30, 2003, when he sat on the patio outside the main house of the farm and talked with his nephew. Goddard had consumed some alcohol, according to court records.

A search was launched the next morning by family members after they noticed he wasn't in his bedroom.

An autopsy later showed Goddard had died of multiple traumatic injuries from the fall.

The defendants claimed Goddard knew about the cliff but "acted with poor or impaired judgment," according to court filings.

However, Krueger said Goddard's drinking didn't absolve the owners of their responsibility to ensure the property was safe for guests.

Floodlights on the patio weren't working and a sign asking people to "Please stay off rocks" wasn't an adequate warning of the danger, Krueger said.

Until Goddard's death, no accident had been reported on the property since 1988 when it began its use as a vacation rental, according to court documents.